RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION AND TRANSPARENCY
IN LAND ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT (ANDHRA PRADESH AMENDMENT)
ACT, 2018 THE RIGHT TO FAIR
COMPENSATION AND TRANSPARENCY IN LAND ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND
RESETTLEMENT (ANDHRA PRADESH AMENDMENT) ACT, 2018 [Act No. 22 of 2018] [21st December, 2017] An Act Further To
Amend The Right To Fair Compensation And Transparency In Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation And Resettlement Act, 2013 In Its Application To The State Of
Andhra Pradesh Be
it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Andhra Pradesh in the Sixty-ninth
Year of the Republic of India as follows:- (1) This Act may be called the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement (Andhra Pradesh Amendment) Act, 2018. (2) The Act shall be deemed to have come into effect on
1st January, 2014. (3) The provisions of this Amendment Act shall have
effect notwithstanding anything contained in any law or judgment or order of
any Court or authority, without affecting the vested rights. In
the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (Act 30 of 2013) (hereinafter
referred to as the principal Act), in its application to the State of Andhra
Pradesh in section 2, in sub-section (2), after the second proviso, the
following proviso shall be added, namely:- "Provided
also that the acquisition of land for the projects listed in section 10A and
the purposes specified therein shall be exempted from the provisions of the
first proviso to this sub-section". In
the Principal Act, after Chapter III, the following Chapter shall be inserted,
namely: - "CHAPTER III A PROVISIONS OF CHAPTER II AND CHAPTER HI
NOT TO APPLY TO CERTAIN PROJECTS 10A.
Power of State Government to exempt certain projects The
State Government may, in the public interest, by notification in the Andhra
Pradesh Gazette, exempt any of the following projects from the application of
the provisions of Chapter II and Chapter III of this Act, namely:- (a) such projects vital to national security or defence
of India and every part thereof, including preparation for defence or defence
production. (b) rural infrastructure including electrification; (c) affordable housing and housing for the poor people; (d) industrial corridors set up by the State Government
and its undertakings (in which case the land shall be acquired up to one
kilometer on both sides of designated railway lines or roads for such industrial
corridor); and (e) infrastructure projects, including projects under
public-private partnership where the ownership of the land continues to vest
with the Government: Provided
that the State Government shall, before the issue of notification, ensure the
extent of land for the proposed acquisition keeping in view the minimum land
required for such project.". In
the Principal Act, after section 23, the following section shall be inserted,
namely:- 23A."Award
of Col lector without enquiry in case of agreement of interested persons. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 23,
if at any stage of the proceedings, the Collector is satisfied that all the
persons interested in the land who appeared before him have agreed in writing
on the matters to be included in the award of the Collector in the form
prescribed, he may, without making further enquiry, make an award according to
the terms of such agreement. (2) The determination of compensation for any land
under sub-section (1) shall not in any way affect the determination of
compensation in respect of other lands in the same locality or elsewhere in
accordance with the other provisions of this Act. (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the
Registration Act, 1908 (Act 16 of 1908), no agreement made under sub-section
(1) shall be liable to registration under that Act." In
the Principal Act, in section 24, in sub-section (2),- (1) in the existing proviso, for the expression
"where an award has been made" the expression "where the said
award has been made 5 years or more prior to the commencement of this Act"
shall be substituted; (2) after the existing proviso, the following proviso
shall be added, namely:- "Provided
further that in computing the period referred to in this sub-section, any
period or periods during which the proceedings for acquisition of the land were
held up on account of any order, stay, suspension or injunction issued by any
Court or the period specified in the award of a Tribunal for taking possession
or such period where possession has been taken but the compensation is lying
deposited in a Court or in any designated account maintained for this purpose,
shall be excluded.". In
the Principal Act, after Chapter-IV, the following new Chapter IV A shall be
inserted, namely:- CHAPTER IV A Voluntary acquisition of land 30A.
"Acquisition of land by the State Government by entering into agreement. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Principal
Act, or any other law, whenever it appears to the State Government that the
land is needed in any area for any public purpose, the State Government or its
Authorized Officer will enter into an agreement with the willing land owner to
sell the land in favour of the State for the matters specified therein in a
prescribed form. (2) The State Government or its Authorized Officer
shall pass an order in terms of agreement under sub-section (1) for
acquisition, and the substance of the order shall be notified in the Gazette.
On such publication of notification, the title, ownership and all interests of
the land owner who enters into agreements, shall vest with the State, free from
all encumbrances. (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the
Registration Act, 1908 (Act l6 of 1908), no agreement entered under sub-section
(1) shall be liable to registration under that Act. (4) If any family, other than the family of the land
owner who entered into an agreement, is affected by the acquisition of land
under this section, the State Government shall pay a lumpsum amount towards
rehabilitation and resettlement, if any, as prescribed in the rules framed
hereunder: Provided
that no agreement or the lumpsum amount towards rehabilitation and resettlement
as may be prescribed, shall be abnormally at variance to the disadvantage of
the land owners.". In
the principal Act, after section 31, the following section shall be inserted,
namely:- 31A.
"Payment of Lump sum amount by State Government Notwithstanding
anything contained in this Act, whenever the land is to be acquired for any
projects as notified in section 10A, it shall be competent for the State
Government to pay such lumpsum amount as may be prescribed in the rules in lieu
of Rehabilitation and Resettlement: Provided
that the payment of such lumpsum amount in lieu of Rehabilitation and
Resettlement as may be prescribed, shall not be abnormally at variance to the
disadvantage of the affected families.". In
the principal Act, after section 33, the following new section 33 A shall be
inserted, namely:- 33A.
Recovery of the amount wrongfully paid. Notwithstanding
anything contained in any other law, the authority in a reference under section
64 or the High Court in appeal under section 74, or any other authority in any
legal proceedings find that the money has been wrongfully paid to any person
under this Act, the State Government or its authorized person or Collector
shall recover the same as arrears of land revenue.". In
the principal Act, in section 46, in sub-section (6), in the Explanation, in
clause (b), the words "any person other than", shall be omitted. In
the principal Act, for section 87, along with the marginal heading the
following section shall be substituted, namely:- 87.
"Offences by Government officials. Where
any offence under this Act has been committed by any person who is or was
employed in the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be,
at the time of commission of such alleged offence, the Court shall take
cognizance of such offence provided the procedure laid down in section 197 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Act 2 of 1974) is followed.". In
the principal Act, in section 101, for the words "a period of five
years", the words "a period specified for setting up of any project
or for five years, whichever is later," shall be substituted. In
the principal Act, in section 109, in sub-section (2), after clause (u) the
following clause shall be added, namely:- "(v)
to give effect to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Andhra Pradesh Amendment) Act,
2018".
Preamble - RIGHT TO FAIR COMPENSATION
AND TRANSPARENCY IN LAND ACQUISITION, REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT (ANDHRA
PRADESH AMENDMENT) ACT, 2018PREAMBLE